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Athens News Courier (Newspaper) - September 16, 2009, Athens, Alabama
Tanner coach believes Rattlers leariu‘d iroiii loss PAGE IB
The News Couri
Sening Athens and Limestone County: A (jìinnìunity of lradition and Futiin
Wednesday, September 16, 2009Visit us online
www.enewscourierxomInside Today
.1
Pilots fly pets to safety
Pilots N Paws volunteers move pets from overwhelmed shelters to towns where they'll stand a better chance of adoption.
PAGE 9A
Who's got school spirit?
The News Courier's annual Spirit section featuring local high school bands and cheerleaders will appear in Friday's edition. Look for our new small magazine size.
COMING FRIDAY
Index
Classifieds 4B
Comics..........3B
Health :.. .8A
Ledger.........lOA
Lifestyles........1C
Lottery..........3A
Obituaries.......2A
Thelton Bradley Richard Kunter
Opinion.........5 A
Sports...........IB
Valley...........4A
Weather.........2A
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Man arrested for fake Nikes
By Jfl\n Colf
JciUKà{it}ìciìsnc\\s-cx)iirìvr.c'()m Johar Zameen Khan was man
ning a faux-Nike tennis shoe booth
at the Limestone Flea Market in Capshaw on June 21,2008, when he learned a raid was about to come dowm, an official said.
So he quickly exited.
Limestone County Sheriff Mike
Blakely, investigators, deputies and representatwes of Nike and Dooney & Bourke — a designer handbag maker — surprised vendors of four or five booths who were allegedly selling counterfeit Gucci, Nike and Dooney & Bourke merchandise that day. Three were arrested.
Authorities seized 462 pairs of shoes, 197 purges, 152 items of cloth
ing and 57 wallets, Blakely said.
The sheriff said the genuine items would sell for some $2(X),(XX) in reputable stores.
Khan. 32, of 6247 Rime Valley ITrive, Apt. 102, Huntsville, was finally arrested Monday and charged with theft of trade secrets — a Class C felony, recorjds show.
He was released from Limestone
County jail on S2,500 bail bond.
“We get tips from representatives who go out to the flea maiket to do anonymous buys and they contacted local law-enforcement,” said Chief Investigator Stanley McNatt.
“Khan saw us come in and word go around and so he left the booth unattended,” McNatt said. “He probably got stopped on a warrant.”Burgers on hold
COURIER/KlM RYNDERS
Wendy's Old-Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant off U.S. 72 East in Athens -r the only one citywide - will not reopen for three to six more months.
Local Wendy’s lovers may have 3“ to 6-month wait for reopening
By Jean Cole jean(&a t hens no \ \ s -(•oiirier.com
to get ybiff fhosty, your chili or your mandarin-chicken salad somewhere else for a while.
The Wendy’s Old-Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant at 1603 U.S. 72 East in Athens is still undergoing demolition following a July 2 fire and reopening appears to be about three to six months away, a city official said.
“As far as I know, they are going to totally renovate and rebuild it on the inside,” said City Engineer Brent Meadows. “I have not heard otherwise. They have
quite a bit of work to do and they are still doing demolition and internal cleanup.” An official at Wendy’s Bowling Green in Kentucky, which owns the local restaurant, could not be reached for comment.
After demolition is complete, Wendy’s will have to submit a rebuilding plan to the city Building Department for approval, then rebuild and pass all inspections before reopening.
The July 2 fire that damaged the restaurant began in the fryer exhaust system about 1 p.m., as the building was
See Wendy's, page 2A
ASU to host Constitution Day event Thursday
Dr. Sean Busick, assistant professor of history at Athens State University, will be the keynote speaker at ASU’s Constitution Day program at 2 p.m. Thursday in McCandless Hall.
Busick is the author of “A Sober Desire for History: William Gilmore Simms as Historian.”
The fi:^ annual forum is open to the public and celebrates the fi'eedoms bestowed upon all Americans through the signing of the famous statute.
Busick regularly teaches classes on the Revolution, and has published several essays on the founding era Before joining the foculty at Athens State, he taught American Constitution and Legal History at Brevard College. In addition, Busick has served as partner scholar for the BiU of Rights Institute. “Athens State annually provides the community
See Constitution, page 2A
COURTESY PHOTO
Dr. Sean Busick
Parent urges
3ressure on
egislators to save PACT
By Kfli y Kyzek
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An ETkmont parent is urging those who purchased the Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition plan to continue to pressure legislators to find a way to save the plan.
Jerry R. Witt, chairman of the local chapter of Save Alabama PACT and who purchased PACT plans for his two daughters, said he is concerned legislators may put the issue on hold if they feel contract holders have grown complacent.
“I participated in a conference call with other Save Mabama PACT leaders last week and one bit of infbrmation I got that is of great concern is that there is a perception among some of the legislators that PACl' is not an issue right now becau& they are not hearing fir)m PACT contract holders,” Witt said in an e-mail. “As such, it is critically important that we contact policymakers, especially the legislators, immediately. They need to be reminded that we have not gone away.”
'rhe program’s assets plunged in value and overseers announced this spring it now has about half the money it needs to meet its future tuition obligations for the 48,549 participants. PACT, which had nearly 70 percent of its investments in stocks, lost nearly half its value in the stock maiket collapse that began in the fell of 2007, felling from $899 million in assets in September 2007 to $528 million at the end
See PACT, page 2A
Contract worker at
AHS gym receives high voltage shock
By Edd Davis
eili&nlhensnews-courier.aun
An out-of-state worker is at Huntsville Hospital this morning after suffering a high voltage electrical shock around 6:30 last night while working in the Athens High School gymnasium.
The unidentified man, said to be 27 years old in scanner reports, was part of a team of workers with a North Carolina contractor installing energy efficiency packages in city schools, said Athens Fire Chief Danny Southard whose department responded to the scene of the accident.
Southard said he was told the man was on the second level of the gym where the bleachers were rolled back in near the wall. The man received an electrical shock of about 270 volts, according to scanner reports. He reportedly then sat down on the top of the bleachers and collapsed shortly after. A cowoiker called 911 and CPR was initiated on top of the bleachers.
Engine No. 1 at city hall was first on the scene.
See Shock, page ЗА
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